Agriculture Cornerhttp://www.agricorner.com Empowering Farmers through ICT4Ag toolsThu, 30 Nov 2017 07:48:08 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.14Pakistan in talks with China, Iran for cross-listing of commoditieshttp://www.agricorner.com/pakistan-in-talks-with-china-iran-for-cross-listing-of-commodities/ http://www.agricorner.com/pakistan-in-talks-with-china-iran-for-cross-listing-of-commodities/#respondThu, 30 Nov 2017 07:48:08 +0000http://www.agricorner.com/?p=20433KARACHI: Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) – the first and only trading platform for commodities including agricultural products and precious metals – has initiated dialogue with China and Iran for cross-listing of commodities in a bid to expand scope of the exchange, a top official disclosed.

Under the arrangement, Chinese and Iranian commodities will be bought and sold through PMEX while Pakistan’s commodities could be traded at Chinese and Iranian exchanges.

MD, PMEX

In an interview with The Express Tribune, PMEX Managing Director Ejaz Ali Shah voiced hope that the cross-listing of commodities would encourage investors to trade in Pakistan’s products that had high demand in the global market.

The new global trading platform is expected to start running in the next one year. Initially, Pakistan’s rice and cotton may be listed in China and Iran and later other agricultural products will be added.

Shah insisted that the agricultural industry would greatly benefit from the global platform as Pakistan would be able to sell its products to regional countries in a short span of time. “This way, Pakistan will tap a bigger market and its barren lands will come under plantations,” he said.

Iran has expressed interest in getting its petroleum products listed on PMEX whereas Pakistan’s basmati rice may be sold through the Iranian exchange. China, on the other hand, is a big importer of food products and it can also purchase Pakistan’s commodities through the cross-listing programme.

Shah emphasised that the selection of commodities for cross-listing would be done through mutual consultation.

“We will give priority to those Pakistani products that have a significant demand in Chinese and Iranian markets whereas PMEX will encourage listing of those commodities that are cheap alternatives of products which Pakistan imports,” he said.

The greatest benefit of the cross-listing was savings in foreign exchange because Pakistan’s traders would be able to import goods in regional currencies, he revealed.

More than 28,000 accounts had been opened at PMEX, but inactive accounts were later blocked. At present, 8,000 active accounts are registered with the exchange.

Apart from this, 105 brokers are associated with the exchange, but only 65 are active. The number of brokers is expected to increase after the cross-listing of commodities.

Shah pointed out that the interest of traders and businessmen was increasing in PMEX following the introduction of new products.

“The next two years are very important for the exchange; its offices have been opened in Lahore and Islamabad as well in an attempt to facilitate the traders,” he said.

PMEX’s turnover, which was valued at Rs5 billion per day last year, has now increased to an average of Rs6 billion.

Shah said many agricultural goods could be traded through PMEX, but to achieve that new warehouse construction and capital investment in logistics were necessary.

Owing to a lack of goods storages and a poor logistics mechanism, Pakistan suffers heavy losses every year.

“Government and banks need to collectively pay attention to bringing improvement in warehousing facilities in the country. The government has the required land whereas banks can provide vital financing,” he suggested.

He also disclosed that preparations for commodity trading according to Islamic principles had been completed. Now, investors will be able to trade in crude oil in line with Shariah principles.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30th, 2017.

]]>http://www.agricorner.com/pakistan-in-talks-with-china-iran-for-cross-listing-of-commodities/feed/0Punjab government begins to provide 50pc subsidy for tunnel farminghttp://www.agricorner.com/punjab-government-begins-to-provide-50pc-subsidy-for-tunnel-farming/ http://www.agricorner.com/punjab-government-begins-to-provide-50pc-subsidy-for-tunnel-farming/#commentsTue, 24 Oct 2017 12:37:26 +0000http://www.agricorner.com/?p=20427Punjab government has started a programme to provide fifty percent subsidy for installation of tunnel on three thousand acres of land under Khadim-e-Kisan package.

Talking to Radio Pakistan, a spokesman of the Agriculture department said the yield of vegetables including cucumber, capsicum, bitter gourd and others can be promoted through tunnel farming.

He said Punjab government is also providing sixty percent subsidy on drip irrigation system.

The spokesman said the government has banned the import of tomato for protecting the financial interests of local farmers.

Source: business recorder

]]>http://www.agricorner.com/punjab-government-begins-to-provide-50pc-subsidy-for-tunnel-farming/feed/1There’s So Much Pain in Agriculture That Traders Are Leavinghttp://www.agricorner.com/theres-so-much-pain-in-agriculture-that-traders-are-leaving/ http://www.agricorner.com/theres-so-much-pain-in-agriculture-that-traders-are-leaving/#respondTue, 24 Oct 2017 12:35:08 +0000http://www.agricorner.com/?p=20426The success of modern farmers has become the misery of traders at the world’s biggest agriculture merchants.

Profits are shrinking as years of bumper harvests sap volatility and trading opportunities, forcing companies to tighten their belts. Trading houses such as Cofco International Ltd. have reorganized their agriculture units this year, leading to the departure of several business heads. Some are leaving to test their luck elsewhere, while others have thrown in the towel and retired.

“The market has changed,” said Miroslaw Marciniak, a consultant at InfoGrain in Warsaw and a former grains trader. “The results aren’t what they used to be. That’s prompting firms to look to cut costs and make savings. There’s pressure and not everyone can stand it.”

At least 40 senior managers and executives in agriculture left their positions at trading houses such as Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and Louis Dreyfus Co. this year, based on a tally of news stories published by Bloomberg. While in many cases the positions have been refilled, it represents an unprecedented changing of the guard.

Agriculture accounts for almost half of all the job changes in commodities this year, compared with other businesses like oil, metals and gas and power, according to recruiter Commodity Appointments Ltd. (See the bottom of this story for a list of key departures.)

While the reasons for the people moves are many — such as company cost cuts, disagreements over strategy or personal choices — they’ve occurred against a backdrop of tougher trading conditions. At the same time, better farm storage and more available market data means growers and consumers can make increasingly favorable deals at the expense of the top merchants.

Profit Pressures

The industry, which for a century has been dominated by the “ABCD” quartet of ADM, Bunge Ltd., Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus, has been forced to make wide-ranging changes. Firms turned to asset sales, trading in niche markets or even processing meat to generate more cash. Executives are putting more pressure on traders to deliver profits, and that’s becoming harder to do, Marciniak said.

The strain has contributed to big personnel shake-ups, among the latest being the departure of Louis Dreyfus’s global grains head and several traders in August. The exits were said to be partly due to clashes over strategy, with the firm wanting to focus on trading its physical grain assets, rather than proprietary buying and selling of paper contracts.

Changes haven’t been restricted to trading desks. ADM has revamped senior management and operations at its troubled global agricultural trading unit. Cofco International, the trading arm of China’s largest food company, appointed a new management team earlier this year following the takeover of Nidera BV and the departure of its American chief. U.S. farmer cooperative giant CHS Inc. and Engelhart CTP have replaced their chief executive officers.

Tough Trading

A glut of crops has helped push the Bloomberg Agriculture Subindex down 50 percent from a peak set in 2012. A 60-day measure of the gauge’s price swings is about half the level it was six years ago.

Traders are also facing difficulties in other markets, like sugar. More competition and slumping prices have made it harder for firms such as ED&F Man Holdings Ltd. and Wilmar International Ltd. to turn a profit from buying and selling the sweetener.

The agriculture overhauls to some extent mirror those seen in the industrial-metals industry a few years ago, when the turmoil of China’s slowdown and lower prices hit firms from Noble Group Ltd. to Trafigura Group Pte. In contrast, oil traders were largely unscathed by the slump in prices that began in 2014, partly due to price volatility and a market structure known as contango, which allowed traders to lock in profits by buying and storing oil to deliver at higher prices in the future.

“We have entered difficult times for agriculture traders as a whole, more probably for grain traders than for energy and metals,” said Philippe Chalmin, a professor of economic history at University Paris-Dauphine who has studied commodity traders for four decades. “We are in a very dull market right now. The time of expansion is more limited.”

In fact, the giants are shrinking. ADM announced job cuts in July after disappointing earnings and a loss at its international trading operation, and Bunge unveiled a $250-million cost cutting plan. Louis Dreyfus and Cargill have also sold assets, and while both reported higher profits last month, they each said the market remains “challenging.”

The shakeups may be an opportunity for smaller merchants. Freepoint Commodities LLC has expanded by poaching agriculture traders from bigger rivals, while Ukrainian firm Kernel Holding SA hired former Engelhart traders to start international desks focusing on oilseeds. Traders are also being lured toward the Black Sea, where supplies of everything from wheat to corn are expanding, InfoGrain’s Marciniak said.

“It’s a global village and traders will go where the infrastructure and the incentives for corporations are,” said Swithun Still, a director at Morges, Switzerland-based Solaris Commodities, which trades Russian grain.

Still, with the industry focused on keeping costs down or consolidating, individual traders are bound to feel they have less job security than a few years ago, according to Jean-Francois Lambert, an industry consultant.

“Big changes are ahead for agriculture trading,” said Lambert, a former commodity trade finance banker with HSBC Holdings Plc. “The best will thrive, but the pack will suffer.”

bloomberg

]]>http://www.agricorner.com/theres-so-much-pain-in-agriculture-that-traders-are-leaving/feed/0Tomato price declined significantly, says ministerhttp://www.agricorner.com/tomato-price-declined-significantly-says-minister/ http://www.agricorner.com/tomato-price-declined-significantly-says-minister/#respondTue, 24 Oct 2017 12:31:45 +0000http://www.agricorner.com/?p=20424Punjab Industry and Trade Minister Sheikh Alla Udin has said that the price of tomato has declined significantly in recent days and the supply of new tomato crop to Punjab from Sindh in 15 days will further drop the rate. He also expressed satisfaction over the rates of vegetables and fruit prices during a meeting of the price control committee held here on Monday. Punjab Chief Secretary Captain (retd) Zahid Saeed, Punjab Livestock Secretary Naseem Sadiq and other concerned officers attended the meeting.

During the briefing, the Minister was told that the government gave 50 per cent subsidy on the cultivation of tomato tanks. In Punjab, 38 per cent of tomatoes are supplied by Sindh, but at present the production is coming from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Tomato’s wholesale retail rate in the market has dropped to Rs 74 per kg.

On the occasion, the Secretary Livestock said that all necessary measures will be taken to protect the poultry industry, especially for small farmers. “We are also considering allowing fixation of poultry prices at district or local level. “There are 6,000 poultry farms in the Punjab and hence there is a need to take steps to strengthen the poultry industry,” he added.

The Minister ensured the participants that the Punjab government will balance the rights of both the farmer and the consumers. “It is a fact that the people of Punjab have faced a lot of problems due to tomato shortage but now this problem will be resolved soon,” he added.

Source: Business Recorder

]]>http://www.agricorner.com/tomato-price-declined-significantly-says-minister/feed/0Brazilian farmers plant 20 percent of soya areahttp://www.agricorner.com/brazilian-farmers-plant-20-percent-of-soya-area/ http://www.agricorner.com/brazilian-farmers-plant-20-percent-of-soya-area/#respondTue, 24 Oct 2017 12:27:52 +0000http://www.agricorner.com/?p=20422Brazilian farmers have planted 20 percent of the expected soya area so far in the 2017-18 crop, consultancy AgRural said on Friday, with some producers expressing concern regarding the progress of works due to a lack of rains in key producing regions. Planting is roughly in line with a five-year average of 19 percent for this period of the year, but behind last year’s level of 29 percent due to weather factors, the consultancy said.

In the Center-West, irregular rains continue to hamper the sowing work. After planting had almost ground to a halt at the end of last week in Mato Grosso, works resumed on Tuesday after it rained in certain parts of Brazil’s largest soya producing state. Some producers have started talking about the need to re-plant the soya in some regions, AgRural said, adding it has yet to assess the extent of the areas where farmers may have had to re-plant the oilseed.

Rodrigo Oliveira, a farmer in Sorriso, Mato Grosso state, told Reuters producers there have not started re-planting in that region yet. “But the situation is critical. We are standing by waiting for rain. There are areas where planting has not started. Mine is late and stalled,” he said. Even with 27 percent of the expected area planted in Mato Grosso through last Thursday, the state lags behind the 47 percent level of last year, according to AgRural data. Yet the state is roughly in line with a five-year planting average for this time of the year, it said.

“It is early to gauge the impact of a lack of rains on the crop,” Daniel Latorraca, superintendent at research agency Imea, said. But farmers are worried about re-planting, and there is also the potential impact the winter corn, cultivated as a rotation crop after soya, he said.

At the same time Parana farmers are the most advanced in the country, with 53 percent of the area planted in the state. With favourable soil humidity levels, neighbouring Santa Catarina’s planting also advanced to 22 percent of the area, AgRural said. “In both states, planting is more advanced than last year and above the five-year average,” the consultancy said.

Speaking during a visit of PFVA members to the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Ahmed underscored the need for all stakeholders to prepare early to meet regulatory requirements for upcoming kinnow exports to Indonesia, which were expected to begin from mid-November.

The exporters informed PCSIR Director General Dr Khaula Shirin and scientists about growing research needs of the horticulture sector. Development of disease-free banana varieties by adopting tissue culture technique was among them.

Prospects of establishing a facility for introducing tissue culture were also discussed and it was agreed to prepare a concept paper to meet the goal on a fast track.

The PCSIR DG vowed full support for the upcoming national conference on horticulture being organised by the PFVA. Describing the theme of the conference as very attractive, she voiced hope that it would be a landmark event in the history of horticulture sector.

The delegation discussed the need for research on nematode that infected potatoes which were exported to Russia as well as problems created by thrips for the bitter gourd crop.

PCSIR scientists assured them that they would take up these projects in order to resolve the industry problems.

The PFVA delegation said it would approach authorities for prompt funding of PCSIR projects in a bid to increase fruit and vegetable exports as well as give a boost to the national economy.

The proposal has been incorporated in a study carried out by the World Bank in association with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID).

The study provides a snapshot of a developing baseline created to initiate discussion, both within countries and globally, about entry points for investing in CSA.

Commenting on the new initiative, Dr Muhammad Azeem Khan, director general of the National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, says that concerted efforts have been made over time to develop technologies to address climate-change issues.

The technologies developed for rainwater harvesting include site-specific hill torrents management, soil and water conservation and groundwater recharge to improve crop productivity.

However, situations differ under wet, dry, deserts and coastal agro-ecological systems. The solutions developed so far are not compatible to address specific issues of all diverse situations, he says.

Dr Azeem says that the successful models practised the world over could be studied for better understanding about the technological choices, social acceptance, scalability and accessibilities.

The potential areas of collaboration could be water harvesting techniques, watershed management, groundwater recharge techniques, water use efficiency, integrated land use, compatible germplasm and microbial collections, he says.

An analysis of the state of agriculture in Pakistan was carried out using the International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT) for the selected key production systems in Pakistan. It projects that the area under wheat cultivation would decrease while area under cotton, maize, rice, sugarcane, tropical fruit cultivation would increase under both climate-change (CC) and no-climate-change (NoCC) scenarios.

The study points out that the level of climate-related expenditure has been low over the past years, yet the new Pakistan Climate Change Act of 2017 sets the stage for the establishment of the Pakistan Climate Change Authority and Pakistan Climate Change Fund, which are expected to help mobilise domestic and international funds for mitigation and adaptation interventions in the country, including CSA.

Climate impacts may slow the economic progress of the country and roll back development advances of the last several decades. In particular, small holder farmers and the poor are heavily impacted by climate changes. Already, several CSA practices are being adopted across the country, but not in a systematic manner.

“In last few years FAO has worked with farmers on various projects that have implemented and compiled sets of localised CSA practices, including the use of improved seed varieties developed in Pakistan,” FAO Representative in Pakistan Mina Dowlatchahi says. “The CSA practices have proven their success in various different agro-climatic zones and socio-economic environments, improving the resilience of livelihoods by increasing yields and conserving soil fertility, with lower cost of inputs, and increased incomes.”

The challenge, however, remains how to reach smallholders on a large scale, to engage the private sector and to ensure that the investments are transformative. For this, a holistic rural development approach is needed, including access to concessional credit and markets for smallholders, creation of value-addition and incomes from activities in which women in agriculture are involved, and basic infrastructure such as electricity and drinkable water to poor rural areas of the country.

Source: Dawn

]]>http://www.agricorner.com/switching-to-climate-smart-agriculture/feed/0Import of pulses slumps by 25.17 percenthttp://www.agricorner.com/import-of-pulses-slumps-by-25-17-percent/ http://www.agricorner.com/import-of-pulses-slumps-by-25-17-percent/#respondMon, 23 Oct 2017 10:22:36 +0000http://www.agricorner.com/?p=20412Pakistan pulses import slumped by 25.17 percent to $137.269 million in July-September of fiscal year 2018, official figures say. Fall in pulses import now stands at $46.178 million in July-September of fiscal year 2018 from $183.447 million in July-September of fiscal year 2017, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics shows. Import volume of pulses also scaled back to 169,821 metric tons in July-September of fiscal year 2018 from 209,860 metric tons in July-September of fiscal year 2017, down by 40,039 metric tons or 19.08 percent.

In Sep 2017, pulses import plunged by 33.07 percent or $19.098 million to $32.599 million from $51.697 million in September 2016. The country imported 40,489 metric tons of pulses in September 2017 as compared to $59,711 metric tons of the commodity imported in September 2016, lower by 19222 metric tons or 32.19 percent.

Source: Business Recorder

]]>http://www.agricorner.com/import-of-pulses-slumps-by-25-17-percent/feed/0‘Kitchen gardening’: PAD to sell 0.15 million seed kits on subsidized rateshttp://www.agricorner.com/kitchen-gardening-pad-to-sell-0-15-million-seed-kits-on-subsidized-rates/ http://www.agricorner.com/kitchen-gardening-pad-to-sell-0-15-million-seed-kits-on-subsidized-rates/#respondMon, 23 Oct 2017 10:17:19 +0000http://www.agricorner.com/?p=20411Punjab Agriculture department has made necessary arrangements for selling 1,50,000 seed kits on subsidized rates during Rabi crop in the province. The step has been taken to promote “kitchen gardening culture” and create awareness about the importance and utility of home grown fresh vegetables across the Province.

Sources in agriculture department told Business Recorder on Sunday that kitchen gardening has gained popularity among the people especially the women folk in different districts of Punjab including Sialkot. The kitchen gardening in the recent past has gained high importance in the wake of upsurge in prices, malnutrition, poverty alleviation and consumption of fresh and home grown vegetables.

Under the arrangements as many as 3200 seed kits would be sold on subsidized rates to facilitate the people and ensure promotion of kitchen gardening culture at gross roots level in Sialkot district out of which 1200 kits are supplied in Sialkot, 800 in Daska, 900 in Pasrur.

In Sialkot, Kitchen gardening had gained popularity among people; women in particular are taking keen interest in getting fresh vegetables and prefer to consume home grown vegetables. The agriculture department had decided to motivate the dwellers of urban, semi urban and rural areas for adopting kitchen gardening while the department will also hold training programme for intended students in schools, colleges and vocational training centres of urban, semi urban and rural areas of the Punjab.

Under the programme, special attention would be focused on expanding the radius of kitchen gardening to semi urban and rural parts keeping in view the popularity of kitchen gardening among those living in urban areas to ensure availability of fresh and organic vegetables round the clock by growing vegetables in their lawns, plastic bags, gunny bags and earthen pots in their homes sources added.